non-defense spending and come down to the least acceptable thing for everybody involved is reducing medicare spending. you want to know how to fix the fiscal cliff? you have to raise taxes on those 250 above and cap deductions and a cap in deductions on everybody loon looks to be marginally acceptable. we'll have a chance to talk about that chart later but i hear you have some interesting guests on this issue coming up. >> we're talking about that chart and will catch you up later. also the joint economic committee will hold a hearing on the fiscal cliff. can congress come up with a compromise before the looming deadline? senator robert casey and jec vice chairman tom brady joins us from texas. thank you for being here. you have a lot of things happening behind the scenes. senator casey, i know you have said what we're watching is a lot of drama and probably taking our eye off the ball in terms of what's happening. can you tell us if there's progress being made behind the scenes? >> i think there's a little bit too much attention paid to the back and forth every day. there's still a long way